Compliance with the law mandates that all buildings providing Virtual Office services must undergo an AML premises registration with HMRC. To streamline this process, Virtual HQ assumes responsibility for the registration, and we divide the annual fee equally, 50/50. Notably, payment for the registration is only required once Virtual HQ begins generating revenue, with the initial year's fee being conveniently spread across monthly instalments. The fee is currently £300 p/a but subject to change by HMRC.

- We start by establishing the Persons with Significant Control (PwSC) of the proposed business. We look into the history of the company and locate the necessary individuals with whom we would require documentation from. Depending on the structure of the company, we may also identify additional individuals we would request documentation for, just for extra security. Depending on the client's selected mail preference, we would also request documentation for the forwarding address.

- Our Compliance Team research the nature of the company, and build a picture to establish what (if any) risk they present. This includes obtaining a clear description of the company and why they require a virtual office.

- We obtain photo identification and proof of home address for all PwSC in the business. These documents are reviewed by our Compliance Team, and they are trained to spot any irregularities. We would never activate a client whom we suspected had provided us with false or altered documents.

- Following this, we use third-party compliance software to verify the information supplied for each PwSC, which involves a soft credit check (of which we have provided a downloadable example above. This provides us with additional information linked to the individual, and provides evidence to support their current link to the address they have provided. This software also allows us to check their bank account, passport/driving licence numbers if additional checks on their documents are required.

- Having reviewed the results of this report, we may request additional documentation if required.

- We then run open source searches on each individual associated with the business, to locate any adverse media or articles of any concern. These are checks run by our Compliance Team - not a software - and they have good knowledge of what to search and pick up on. Not only are we searching for anything relating to fraud or money laundering, we vet for anything negative toward the business, or the individuals running it. Our risk appetite is fairly low, meaning there are not many things we would be willing to accept here.

Ongoing due diligence for Money Laundering Regulations (MLR) laws refers to the continuous monitoring and assessment of client relationships and transactions to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering measures. It involves regular scrutiny and verification of customer information, risk assessment, transaction monitoring, and reporting of suspicious activities.

- We follow the company on Companies House to see if any changes are made, and request additional documents for any new additions (such as new shareholders).

- We carry out subsequent checks every 12 months to ensure the information we hold is still relevant and correct.

At Virtual HQ, we go beyond mere provision of Virtual Office services. We equip your centre staff with comprehensive written guidance and an efficient reporting system. Recognising the importance of continuous learning, we also offer ongoing video training to ensure that your staff remains vigilant and well-prepared to identify potential issues on-site. Our commitment to empowering your team sets us apart in delivering a secure and vigilant environment.